Mom of 2 survived heart failure during pregnancy and became certified paramedic

Since she was a child, Yanela Vickers has loved babies and the medical field. She dreamed of going into obstetrics and gynecology.

Instead, Yanela got a close look at the profession as a patient. She was 18 and five months pregnant when she walked across the stage to collect her high school diploma in June 2007.

For the past two months, Yanela had felt so fatigued she could hardly get out of bed. Still, she dragged herself to class.

Her abdomen grew at a rate that seemed abnormal and was often painful. Her legs were swollen. She developed high blood pressure and frequently had shortness of breath.

She was seeing her doctor regularly but felt dismissed because she was young and Hispanic. Whenever problems seemed alarming, her boyfriend would take her to the emergency room. Those doctors also explained away her symptoms as being normal during pregnancy.

In her second trimester, Yanela developed migraines and had periodic episodes of fainting.

In her third trimester, during yet another trip to the ER, she was taken to a prepartum triage room. After an ultrasound, she was told to report to the doctor the next day.

"The baby you're carrying has fetal hydrops," the doctor told her.

The condition causes swelling due to fluid buildup in a baby's tissues and organs. In turn, the fluid went into Yanela's uterus and backed up into her lungs, causing a strain on her heart.

It's likely the baby won't survive, the doctor said.

Yanela was transferred to a high-risk pregnancy unit for further testing and was then sent home.

That evening, she and her partner were back in the ER. Her chest was so tight she couldn't breathe. She was told she was in cardiac failure.

The next day, she delivered her baby girl.

While medication kept Yanela's heart pumping, the baby was on a ventilator and...